Comprehensive Reviewer for General Chemistry I Finals

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms and definitions from General Chemistry I, including quantum mechanics, periodic trends, chemical bonding, nomenclature, VSEPR theory, and molecular polarity.

Orbitals

Regions of probability occupied by electrons in the quantum mechanical model of the atom, rather than exact circular orbits.

Quantum Numbers

Numerical values that describe the energy, shape, orientation, and spin of electrons in atoms.

Degenerate Orbitals

Orbitals that share the exact same energy level, such as the three $p$ orbitals in a given shell.

Diamagnetic

The characteristic of a substance with paired electrons only, resulting in no net magnetic moment.

Paramagnetic

The characteristic of a substance with unpaired electrons, leading to attraction by external magnetic fields.

Ionization Energy

The minimum amount of energy required to remove an electron from a gaseous atom or ion in its ground state.

Cation

A positively charged ion formed when a neutral atom loses valence electrons.

Anion

A negatively charged ion formed when a neutral atom gains valence electrons.

Effective Nuclear Charge

The net positive charge experienced by valence electrons after factoring in shielding from inner-shell electrons.

Lewis Electron Dot Symbols

A convenient way to represent valence electrons as dots surrounding an element's chemical symbol.

Octet Rule

The tendency of main-group atoms to gain, lose, or share electrons until they are surrounded by eight valence electrons.

Ionic Bond

The electrostatic attraction holding oppositely charged ions together, formed through the complete transfer of one or more electrons from a metal to a nonmetal.

Covalent Bond

A chemical bond formed when two or more nonmetal atoms share pairs of valence electrons.

Electronegativity

The measure of an atom's ability to attract shared electrons within a chemical bond.

Binary Molecular Compounds

Compounds composed of two different nonmetal elements.

Molecular Formula

A chemical representation showing the exact number and type of atoms in a single molecule.

VSEPR Theory

Valence Shell Electron Pair Repulsion theory; a model predicting molecular shapes based on the principle that electron pairs arrange themselves as far apart in space as possible to minimize electrostatic repulsion.

Electron-Group Geometry

The three-dimensional arrangement that accounts for all valence electron pairs, including both bonding pairs and non-bonding lone pairs.

Molecular Geometry

The spatial arrangement describing only the positions of the bonded atoms in a molecule.

Lone Pair

A non-bonding pair of valence electrons held on a central atom that is not shared in a chemical bond.

Bond Angle

The geometric angle formed between two adjacent terminal bonds meeting at a central atom.

Dipole Moment

A quantitative measure of the separation of positive and negative electrical charges within a molecule.

Molecular Polarity

The overall distribution of electrical charge across an entire molecular structure.

Like Dissolves Like

A guiding chemical rule stating that substances with similar intermolecular forces tend to form solutions with one another.